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Mac & Bone Show - Taylor Davis Interview · Mac & Bone Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Taylor Davis, ESPN college football reporter. She will be on
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the sidelines for one of many interesting SEC games we
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: got to talk to her about. She'll be down there
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: at Ole Miss as they host Missouri. She joins us
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: here on a football Friday. Taylor, thank you for coming
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: on with us. How you been?
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Thanks for having me. I am, in fact, here
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: to bring the good vibes, so thank you for recognizing that.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I've been well.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: It's been a crazy start to the season so far.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: I honestly can't believe we're already at week seven, but
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: I say that every year. It flies by. Looking forward
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: to this one, though, a top 15 matchup, and it's
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: going to have everything you want in an SEC game.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about that one first. I mean, there's so
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: much to talk about in the SEC. I know we
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: want to ask you a Gamecocks question, too. I know
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: they're off, but we got to do that for the
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Gamecock fans listening. But let's just start with Ole Miss, Missouri.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, I kind of feel like you could see
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: a fun one with a ton of points tomorrow in
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: that one. What are you expecting to see tomorrow?
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we are kind of expecting a high scoring game
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: in this one, and it really feels like it could
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: be one of those that comes down to who has
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: the ball last. And I think as much as it
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: feels like low hanging fruit to immediately point to the quarterbacks,
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: you have to in this one. These are two of
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the best. quarterbacks in the country and by the way
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: they've got all the history tied to it obviously Austin
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Simmons formerly at Ole Miss an injury made way for
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: Trinidad Chambliss who is now the essential face of college
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: football Heisman front runner and now Austin Simmons returns to
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Oxford along with his you know impressive wide out Caden
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Lee who was also with him here at Ole Miss
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: and And it's a top 15 matchup with playoff implications.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: It's crazy that we're saying that already. But each of
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: these teams already have an SEC loss. And they still
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: have Texas, Georgia, and Oklahoma left on their schedule. So
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: winning out would be incredibly difficult from here. So it
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: has everything on the line already. And I actually think
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: that both of these teams have a lot of talent,
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: and they're going to have to go prove it. You know,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: you look to Trinidad Chambliss and the Ole Miss offense,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: and they've really just done everything that you expect them
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: to be, even with a limited Kiwan Lacy. But the
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: defense has been a bit of a question mark until
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: their bye week, and then they looked a lot better
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: against Vandy. Four turnovers, only six missed tackles when they
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: had had three consecutive games of 14 missed tackles. But
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: was it because they were up against Vanderbilt? No disrespect
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: to Vanderbilt, but this is going to be a much
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: more high-caliber opponent that you're seeing in Missouri's offense. And
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Missouri's defense is arguably a strength of the team, specifically
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: the defensive front, looking to make things difficult for Chambliss.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: So it has everything that you could possibly want. Special
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: teams is going to be important, too. And a little
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: bit of emotional tie to this one. So you never
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: know what happens when that's in the fold.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: That is the voice of Taylor Davis, ESPN, SEC Network,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: on the sidelines this weekend for Missouri and Ole Miss
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: tomorrow afternoon. Taylor, to say it's been a rollercoaster ride
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: for the Gamecocks may not do justice to rollercoasters at
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: this point. So as we sit here on the bye week,
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: what's now the expectation, do you think, for the Gamecocks
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: after the big win at Florida last week? It's changed
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: so quickly. Now what can they do in a positive
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: sense the rest of the way?
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Right. You have to continue the momentum that you were
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: able to garner from that. And I think what is
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: also kind of a head scratcher this season is the
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Florida Gators. What in the heck is going on in Gainesville?
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Beginning of the season, I was covering Florida and I
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: was going, okay, this may be one of the best
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: offenses in the country. All the weapons that they have.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Aaron Filo looks great. I think Buster Faulkner is one
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: of the best offensive coordinators in the country. People need
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: to pay attention to the Florida Gators. Even Ole Miss
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: and Missouri, who I've got this week, faced Florida a
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: week apart. And if you look at the stat line
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: difference in Ole Miss's loss to Florida and Missouri's win
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: over Florida, it doesn't look like the same team. So
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: I do wonder how impactful that loss can be for
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Ole Miss, because now we're looking at Florida a little
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: bit differently, but also how impactful can that win be
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: for South Carolina? I think that they're going to have
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: to continue momentum because you do have a question mark
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: of the opponent. But regardless, we all know how contentious
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: things have been, you know, in Columbia, around Shane Beamer,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: around the North Sellers, the Dylan Stewart suspension. Things were
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: not feeling good. That's typically when the train goes off
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: the tracks entirely. The fact that they still focused inward
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: and were able to go get a road win like that,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: I don't care what Florida's doing. Playing in the swamp
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: is hard. It is loud. It is intense. The fact
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: that this team still rallied, put something together that and
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: looked like a much more equipped team. I think there's
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: momentum to be taken from that. I want to see
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Lenores continue to find his groove because I think what
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: he's been up against with so much change, and honestly,
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: at times, not even a lot of help for his targets.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: I think you've got to build a little bit off
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: of what they've garnered in the Florida win.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Taylor Davis is with us, ESPN sideline reporter. She's got
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Mizzou and Ole Miss tomorrow. I want to ask you
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: about Alabama-Tennessee, that one. I mean, there's three real interesting
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: SEC games on at the same time. You got one
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: of them. But this Alabama-Tennessee game is intriguing. I mean,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: do you think– can Tennessee's defense kind of keep them
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: in that game? Because, like, if Alabama goes off like normal,
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: I have a hard time believing Tennessee's going to score
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: with them. What do you think about this one?
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: I'm glad that you started with Tennessee's defense because I
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: think that that is what would keep them in the
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: game if it's possible. Also, this being in Neyland. But
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: I think that actually Alabama losing that game last week
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: is bad news for Tennessee because they are coming into
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: this game so irritated. They feel slighted. They feel like
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: they let that one slip away. And obviously the calls,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: whether we like to focus on it or not, it
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: definitely played a role. So if you, I wouldn't want
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: to be in the line of fire of a slighted
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Alabama team personally. And I think that's what Tennessee is
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: going to see. But I just was on the call
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: for Tennessee, Arkansas last week. And I saw that defense
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: up close, specifically the defensive front and the linebackers. The
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: first two levels of that defense are very talented, very,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: very talented defensively. Bringing in Jim Knowles from Penn State
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: was such a good hire by Josh Heupel. And interestingly,
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: he brought with him a coach at every level and
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: a player at every single level. So it's allowed them
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: to implement this system way quicker. They are doing new
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: install weekly because they have so many guys that are
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: helping make sure that that thing is fine-tuned. So I
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: think the defense is actually going to be a tough
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: test for Keelan Russell and Alabama today. But I think
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: they've got more firepower offensively to eventually make it happen,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: whether it's deep shots, whether it's just continuing to kind
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: of ground and pound and let Keelan Russell go improv
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: a little bit more. Because I don't know that this
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Tennessee offense can keep up with him. The fact that
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Tennessee's offense has, you know, had so many question marks,
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: specifically around the quarterback, and we have been told that
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: George McIntyre is getting another start. He was good, not
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: great last week. A few turnovers and a few kind
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: of young moments. But Faison Brandon still dealing with a
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: shoulder injury. And honestly, even injury aside, It did seem
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: the game was a bit too fast for him. Some
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: of the sacks were on him. So I think that
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: they kind of feel that's the best option to start McIntyre.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: But Deshaun Bishop can't carry the load, you know, the
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: entirety of the SEC season. I mean, he's a stud.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Don't get me wrong. But I don't think this Tennessee
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: offense has enough figured out to hang with the tide.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: Taylor, we were talking to sideline reporter Evan Washburn of
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: CBS last segment. He's got the Eagles and Panthers in
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Philly today. This week, we were talking to him about
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: being near the Philly fans on the sidelines, and he
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: told us about the Black Hole fans in Oakland, and
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: he would have to run from spot to spot just
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: to get away from them. We were going to ask you,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: in the SEC, who has the rowdiest fan base when
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: you're sitting there on the sidelines doing your job?
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: That's a really good question. I think it really has
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: so much to do with the matchup, I will say. Like,
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I fully expect tomorrow is going to be kind of wild,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: but it's dang near impossible if you're talking SEC rowdy
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: fan bases to not talk about LSU. Come on. I mean,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: a game in Death Valley after tailgating all day in
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: Baton Rouge, those people get nuts. And honestly, it's all
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: in good fun. I love covering games there, but... Yeah,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: do I get messed with a good bit? Yes, but
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: it's all in good fun. I love going to Death Valley.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: That's awesome. That is awesome, and that is not a
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: surprising answer.
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: That was the odds-on favorite.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: That was the favorite. That was definitely the favorite.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: We didn't think it was the Vanderbilt fans.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: No, no, unfortunately not. Well, when the Pobias were there,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: there was usually some stuff going on with that.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Oh, that's true.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: They got rowdy. That fam got rowdy.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: That's a good point.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: No doubt about it.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: You knew when they were in the stadium, I'll tell
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: you that.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: And Theo Vaughn showed up, too. It was a party,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: no doubt about it. All right. Taylor, great talking ball
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: with you. Awesome stuff. We appreciate it. We'll be watching
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: tomorrow for you on the sidelines, SEC Network at 3.30,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Ole Miss and Missouri. Thank you so much. Enjoy your
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: time down there in the Grove. Appreciate you.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Thank you guys so much. Have a great day.